


Tidal Wave

by PaintedSpades



Series: Mermaid tales [1]
Category: BLACKPINK (Band), EXO (Band), Stray Kids (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Angst, Bottom!Taehyung, F/F, Fluff, Gay, Homosexual, Human, Human!Seokjin, I want you to hate him and love him, I will make him, Interesting Plot, Lemon, Lesbian, M/M, Main!Jeongguk, Multi, Sex, Smut, Stupid Jungkook, Top!Jungkook, doesn't know how to handle feelings, human!Hoseok, human!taehyung, human!yoongi, i guess, i honestly dont know, im not straight, merfolk, mermaid, mermaid!Jimin, mermaid!jeongguk, mermaid!namjoon, suffer, this was written too early for me to function, very little heterosexualness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-14 18:02:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16917675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaintedSpades/pseuds/PaintedSpades
Summary: Jeongguk and Jimin are mermaids in a deep sea kingdom. They enjoy their life except for the otherworlders, who are constantly ruining their sea life and are forced to come to terms with it. Yet, one fateful night a ship crashes amongst in their territory, and Jimin helps without thinking.>Jeongguk huffed as he rested against the rough rocks adorn with shells and various other sea life.“What is it now?” Jimin hummed as he sat upon the rock, “did a fish nibble at your scales the wrong way?” he cooed softly at the young prince, “or was it maybe you began to fancy a certain fish” he sighed dramatically and slid down the rock. Only to now realize Jeongguk was swimming silently away from the elder.“Hey, you brat!” Jimin scoffed and slowly wiggled down the rock, only cursing profusely when he hit other rocks on the way down, but he made the younger swear on his life and every pearl in the sea he had heard no such thing.





	1. Tidal Waves

It was a lazy day in the sea kingdom you see, the Royal Bubble News had always been the same as long as he had been alive. The plastic rates were growing, fish and sea animals were declining rapidly, yet there was nothing they could do.

His father had always been against anything other than tradition, so trying to convince him on anything had to be thoroughly thought out, as well as a presentation full of factual (sometimes unfactual) evidence. Jeongguk, and Jimin had been doing this since they were kids and swear on the blubber of the biggest whale that they were the best.

Yet, on this day, it was if the slides of his presentation slid off the pages and into real life. It was announced that a price from the world above had been swept to sea, as well as a few of his staff and family members.

“Father!” Jimin's voice could be heard from outside the palace, his father did not respond the first time until a shrill scream interfered with his echo-location. 

“I really wish you’d stop doing that” Namjoon spoke with a soft deep voice, years of salt water built up in his vocal chords. “What is it now?” the elder spoke as he swam to greet the small merman, “did the sea level raise? Was a bottle thrown to sea” the man chuckled before letting out a raspy cough.

Jimin's face turned an angry red, “why don’t you listen before guessing ridiculous things!” the younger raised his voice and hastily began explaining the situation, “we need to help those men and women before they’re taken by the tide!”

The large merman raised a brow and crossed his arms, “and why should we do anything to help these other worlds when they have done nothing to help us?” he scoffed and went to turn away, yet the small merman wouldn’t let this go.

“We could tell them!” he exclaimed and the pain in his voice could be heard, Jeongguk stood there shocked, looking over his shoulder after listening to the conversation between the two. He and Jimin have always been told to never reveal themselves to anything or anyone of the otherworld, and it would have great punishments to do so.

“Excuse me?” Namjoon yanked his arm away from the young boy, “you seem to have learned nothing from living here, knowing nothing of what the otherworlds would do if they found out about us, and how it would ruin everything” the man exclaimed loudly, his brows furrowed and an angry glare in his eyes as he swam away. A few scales dropping from his forearm from where Jimin has clutched so desperately.

Jimin huffed angrily and clenched his fists tightly as he trembled in anger, his rather soft aura changing into a imposter as he glanced in Jeongguk’s direction, to be met with a rather scared expression of the two years his younger male.

“What?” he snapped at the boy and then frowned softly, knowing he wasn’t himself, “this can’t continue because that dying old man can’t remove that fishbone from his stuck up ass” he paused and angrily glanced at the chamber in which the elder had disappeared. “I’ll get them myself” his whispered under his breath and swam off without another word.

“Shit” Jeongguk muttered and put down the object he was only half paying attention to and looked at where the other had just been, “fuck fuck fuck, what the hell is he going to do with them?” he blinked and looked around the palace as if a little lobster was supposed to appear and tell him what to do.

He floated towards the door, there was already no trace of him. He had no problem with saving the otherworlders, but knowing how otherworlders handled the sea, especially salt-water, he knew they only had a few hours until dark and at least half a day until they died.

He exclaimed a rather creative amount of curse words before heading out in the general direction of where he heard the crash would’ve been. He swam fast, yet also cautiously amongst the large and ruthless waves, “jimin you fucking idiot” he said as he broke surface to look around. There was nothing but towering waves and an angry sky, he glanced around once more before seeing a small flicker of a fin in the distance.

The waves crashed amongst the surface, pushing and pulling the way he went, if he wasn’t an experienced and sea bred merman then he would be easily swept away with the currents. Which made it much more difficult, and worrisome, because his small elder was not a sea bred merman, only adopted when he was swept out of a small lagoon and into the open currents of the tiresome ocean.

Jeongguk swam faster as if his own life depended on it, he finally reached a meter away from where the small male was, he could see his friend muscles struggling to lift the weight of a large male, Jimin’s gills flaring and overworking themselves. He would knock himself out if he did anymore. 

Without another moment of hesitation he dashed and picked up the male the other was carrying, “you focus on helping others while I bring this one to the cave side” he shouted to the other as the loud and powerful unforgiving storm raged overhead.

The water unearthly cold from the rains sweeping over head, he lifted the male above water as he dragged him through the cold water, afraid it might send the otherworlder into a shock he rushed with all his might to the cave.

As he met the caves entrance, he was rushed with childhood memories and nostalgia but soon shook it off as this was not the time to focus on him. He slowly pulled the other onto the small beach, enriched with dried seaweed and small crabs, he put the otherworlder onto the shore and blinked at him, he had never seen one before, especially this close.

He was tempted to lean in and examine him but refused as he realized his friend was still out there, struggling against the unkind sea, unforgiving to every one of its residents. He dove back into the small pool of the cave and swam back into the open sea, he swam directly to the spot where his poor friend would be struggling.

Yet, on his way back to the spot he saw his friend, a hard face on as he carried yet another victim of the crash, he stopped in his place and raised a brow, as Jimin got closer he tilted his head.

“This is the only one I could get, the rest are too far down for me, most are hard to save and one too heavy” he said and frowned softly, Jeongguk looked down into the boys arms and say a small man. “You know they breathe air right?” he muttered and smiled softly.

Jimin glared at him, “there’s still one you could save, I wouldn’t be dilly dallying” which made Jeongguk snap into reality immediately and dash off without thought. He rushed to the scene, where he saw many of the bodies too deep, even for him, as he was about to give up, a sparkle of light flashed from a small distance.

He swam over to see what it could be, as he realized it was an otherworlder, he swam closer to help, until he saw that this otherworlder was still alive, and awake, holding onto one of the supply crates and breathing heavily. He couldn’t tell if it was tears or the harsh salt water on the otherworlders eyes that made them so red.

Jeongguk hesitated and moved forward slowly, but the otherworlder seemed to lose grip of the box and began to flail around in the sea as a wave began to tower over the two. Jeongguk didn’t think as he darted towards the otherworlder, he scooped him into his arms and dove deep enough to where the wave would only just brush them aside.  
As he looked upon the otherworlder, who was clenching his eyes closed, and his cheeks puffed out in a way to hold his breath. He realized how pretty this one was, and furrowed his brows slightly as he had never thought anyone pretty, especially not an otherworlder, in which he made a disgruntled face.

He managed to lift the boy back to the surface, and the boy taking one of the biggest breathes he’d ever heard. Mind you, he had never heard a breath. He looked at him with confusion, the otherworlder opened his eyes and looked right back into Jeongguks. He wasn’t sure if it was fear or something he couldn’t explain but his heart raced with anxiety.

The otherworlder let out a scream, which was met with a loud clash of abrupt lightning. Jeongguk froze and let the male go, to his dismay, the otherworlder fought back and pushed away from him.

“If I shall go! I shall go my own way! Not to that of a bloody siren!” he screamed and began to swim, which he didn’t get very far before another wave began to build up, Jeongguk shamed himself of smiling at the boys trial of escaping the boy. 

“I’m really not-” Jeongguk stuttered out as he moved through the current easily and towards the boy, grinning and not wanting to laugh at his struggles, unfortunately any words he would try to say would be met with a loud crash of lightning or a rumble of angry thunder.

He scooped the boy up into his arms and took another dive into the cold ocean as a loud wave crashed against the surface once again, he breached the water, the otherworlder harshly beating at his back with the strength he could only imagine could be from the amount of adrenaline pumping through his veins.

The body finally went limp as he took him back to the cave, once arrived, he realized the boy had passed out. He dove once more, covering the otherworlders nose and mouth so he wouldn't breath in water and make it worse for himself.

Once inside the cave he was met with loud exclaiming and a scared and calm Jimin trying to say something, once coming up from the water he could see a scared otherworlder huddling in the corner and the other yelling with what seemed a weird accent.

“C-Calm down mister, I-If you’d let me ex-” he was cut off by the small man by another loud bout of yelling an incomprehensible amount of words that Jimin looked to Jeongguk with a look of hope and grief. 

“And who is this bloody mackerel?!” the man exclaimed, turning his wide eyes to Jeongguk who has managed to just slither up the beach enough to set the younger looking otherworlder down. The man stood still and looked to the other otherworlder, “you- You killed him didn’t you!” he said and moved towards the limp body of the younger boy who lay sprawled in the damp sands.  
“No, this little sunfish tired himself out and passed out” he scoffed, taking none of the otherworlders fishshit. “If you would listen to us, we can explain what happened” Jimin said calmly after seemingly regathering his senses.

“Fine” he said and sat in between the other two male otherworlders, “what do you have to say?” he huffed, looking tired and completely drained.

Jimin gave the male a soft look and explained the situation as calmly and simply as he could, while Jeongguk examined how the otherworlders whole face fell and how his once strong looking body seemed to deteriorate as he heard the news of his friends and family drowning in the cold harsh storm.

The otherworlders gaze fell, his glazed over eyes trembled as if they were being forced to hold a hostage against their will, which the hostage would be the tears that slowly slipped from his eyes and down his cheeks.

Another otherworlder raised his voice, his voice soft compared to the angry otherworlder. “So you’re saying everything is gone?” his voice trembled at the end, as if just realizing what that meant. Jeongguk felt bad for these men, for them to lose everything, that’s something no one would want to have happen.

“You’ll be safe here-” Jimin whispered and moved closer as if to comfort the males, his green tail standing out compared to the blue of the water. He shifted wairily towards them as they put up no fight, he moved in closer and slowly rubbed the angry ones back.

“What are you even supposed to be?” he scoffed, his anger one returning, and obvious shield for his grief, “a fucking siren?” he pushed Jimin away and moved just as far, to which Jimin frowned and shook his head. “We’re being entrapped by their words, we need to get out of here!”.

Jimin sighed and looked to Jeongguk with a pitiful expression, Jeongguk looked to the traveler and sighed. “The story of sirens was only to keep people like you out of the oceans” he muttered and glared, “yet it didn’t do much, we’ve seen some suicidal bastards come out here just for that matter and get swept to sea” he sighed.

The man narrowed his eyes, “you mean there aren’t any sirens?” he said cautiously and scoffed, the whole situation he seemed to be in denial of. He plopped to the floor, his heart sinking and thoughts overwhelming him as he finally just broke down.

Jeongguk glanced at Jimin and shrugged slightly, neither of them had ever experienced something such as this and didn’t know what to do. Though, Jimin was secretly very experienced in this area, which neither of them knew until he slid up against the crying man and held him close.  
Taking this time, Jeongguk focused back onto the smaller boy who was dressed up more than the other two, his breaths were deep as he rested on the small sandy beach of the cave. Jeongguk was completely clueless when it came to otherworlders, he slid closer to the boy who was laying completely still, he poked at the skin, which was warm to the touch and not at all scaly.

He blinked and touched at the clothes which were sopping wet, “will they get sick?” he muttered out loud and looked at Jimin who was occupied. He made a face of confusion as to what to do. Otherworlders were very complex creatures, they were pretty much the opposite of the mermaid race.

Jeongguk looked to where his feet were still in the water, he pulled the boy completely out of the water, realizing his tail acted like a sea snakes when he was upon land, as he had never been fully out of land, he had no idea what would happen if he were to dry up. Usually merfolk get sick when they begin to dry up, so he was afraid of what would happen, so he kept the lower part of his tail in the water for safe measures.

He let curiosity get the better of him as he smoothed a hand across the otherworlders soft skin, which seemed to be free of any bacteria, he blinked and looked at the other features of the otherworld, unknowingly swaying his tail in joy as if he were playing with his dolphin friends as a kid.

The feeling that resonated within him was a long lost emotion he thought to have left in his childhood, giddiness. He was always a curious mermaid and this was peaking his curiosity. He wondered what otherworlders had instead of tails, of course they had those two skin sticks, which they used to move around on land.

Jeongguk smiled as he stroked the boys hair, untouched by the salt water and silky smooth, he gaped at this and closed his eyes as he lost himself in the soft feeling. Never had feeling this before.

He began to get tired, the fighting of the raging storm finally getting to him. “Jiminie” he whispered softly, opening his eyes slightly to realize that Jimin too had passed out wrapped around the two other otherworlds. Jeongguk didn’t mind, as his tired brain didn’t register any danger from this. He slowly curled himself around the otherworlder, finding a great sense of warmth and comfort radiating from the boy.


	2. Oncoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unusual event, playful brothers, and a strange acting Jeongguk.

Jeongguk awoke with a start as he felt a slight wriggling from next to him, and some uncomfortable groaning. He opened his eyes and realized he was holding the otherworlder in his grip, he never realized how strong he was as he then saw another otherworlder trying to pry his hands from the other.  
“Oh” he spoke and released the otherworlder from his iron grip, he glanced around the cave to see Jimin, who was in the middle of a mid-life crisis as Jeongguk looked down he realized that Jimin had otherworlder fleshy sticks.

“Jimin?” Jeongguk said and began to move towards him, yet face planted into the cool sands of the cave, he was confused for a second before watching as his beautiful fins had turned into fleshy sticks. “JIMIN” he screamed and began to flop around the beach as he was quite literally now a fish out of water.

Jimin was still looking at his legs and wiggling the tiny fleshy sticks at the end of the larger fleshy sticks, “jimIN WHAT THE FUCK” he screeched and he could tell he was scaring the otherworlders as they all looked on at them from a distant corner in the cave. Jeongguk quickly tired himself out as he was not used to these weird new muscles, which looked different compared to the slight more bulk than the otherworlders flesh sticks.

“Taehyungie they have legs…” he heard one of the otherworlders say to the otherworlder he has been wrapped around just a few hours ago. He swallowed and rolled onto his stomach, “what did you say these flesh sticks are?” he muttered and tried to move over to them, but just tired himself out more.

“Legs?” the second tallest with soft brown locks said, “and I’m seokjin- since you saved us the other night I think you should at least know our names” The well-spoken man said as Jeongguk continued to flail around, “yes thank you, how do you use these, Seok-jin?” Jeongguk said as his legs flew in the air.

A soft giggle resonated from the corner of the cave and it drew the gaze of a certain mermaid, his eyes fell on the otherworlder who had soft tan skin and honey brown hair, he certainly looked much different from when he saved him from the Ocean.

The otherworlder, stunned, hid from the attention from Jeongguk. “Would you like some help?” the male asked and Jeongguk nodded, his attention now on the other man, who seemed elder than him, as he would have to use prefixes for him.

The man shifted cautiously towards the mermaid-? If he could even call him that anymore, Jeongguk was more of a helpless baby than anything hostile. He couldn’t even hurt them if he wanted to, and felt extremely vulnerable.

Seokjin bent down and gave him a hand, to which Jeongguk held and began to hoist himself up, his arm muscles and his back muscles rippled under his skin as he hoisted himself up with mostly just those muscles. He would’ve fallen backward if it weren’t for Seokjin helping him balance.

As Jeongguk stood for the first time he realized that he was larger than the majority, only outshined by the man helping him, who was quite broad compared to the young merman. “Thanks” he muttered and took ahold of the wall to keep himself upright.

He wanted to glance at Jimin to see if he was alright but afraid he would fall or stumble if he were to move, so he stood there as if he were a painting. “Jimin” he muttered, “you alright hyung?” as he said that he felt a soft hand on his back and realized Jimin was now standing beside him, quite small, yet he was also built larger than the others.

They both faced the otherworlders and smiled shyly, “So uh-” he realized the majority of them were looking down towards their lower half, and that made them focus on it themselves. They looked down and saw their legs and another slightly dangly bit in between. They looked at each other and blinked, not knowing what this could be.

Otherworlders murmured amongst themselves, giggling and laughing. “There’s an Island through that entrance” Jeongguk said and pointed to a large crack in the wall, “I suggest going there if you need food, otherwise we can bring some fish and stuff” Jeongguk shrugged as he looked at his weird new body parts.

The three of them nodded, “I’m T-Taehyung” the honey-haired otherworlder said and moved over to the merfolk, to which they became rather stiff. “Your cuddles are nice but, I don’t think I’d choose to die for them,” he said and chuckled, his voice was deep for someone of that look and height. Jeongguk just nodded as he didn’t know what a cuddle was, but he assumed it had to do with his sleep curl.

“Usually you introduce yourself” Taehyung said softly and looked into both of the merfolks eyes, they both spluttered and said their names at the same time, “Jeimonigginuk” it came out a clutter of words and noise and the otherworlder looked confused before laughing loudly, “let's try that again” he said and smiled at Jeongguk, “how about you doll face?” he said softly and Jeongguk started moving his mouth as if to form words, but looked like a fish blowing bubbles.

Jimin raised his voice, to which was a little shaky, “Jeongguk” he said and Taehyung met his gaze softly, “that’s his name, Jeongguk” he said and then pointed to himself, having a hard time finding his own words. “Jimin” he finally managed to get out and then looked back to the others who nodded as if they were looking at their young.

Jimin gave a soft smile to the encouraging adults and went to move towards them before realizing how unbalanced he really was, the angry man rushed over to steady him as Taehyung braced Jeongguk so he didn’t go anywhere.

His heart pittered and pattered as the elder held him, he felt the urge to hold this boy close and never let go. Maybe he had issues, but maybe just maybe he could feel something else, as he was burning holes into the side of the otherworlders face he shook it off as just a longing for home. 

“Jimin we should really be heading home,” Jeongguk said steadily as he could see the sun shunting through the underwater opening to the cave, Jimin nodded and looked at the otherworlders. “We’ll bring stuff by later” he said and pointed to the crack in the wall, better find shelter and food before dark” he said as a quick reminder before falling to his knees and then butt and sliding into the water, he slowly kicked his legs before they swirled into a long almost 8 foot tail. 

Jeongguk smiled thankfully, there was no problem in becoming right back into their merfolk form, “expect us sometime” Jeongguk shrugged and did the same as Jimin, as a deep pit opened in his stomach. His father would have probably been worried sick, this was a catastrophe of a storm and the thoughts a parent could have about their son in these scenarios are awful. 

He swallowed a large lump as he forced a smile and waved goodbye as the otherworlders shifted through the small crack in the wall, and he could hear their voices and stayed until they faded away. His tail slowly reappeared, his tail larger and more built for the sea than Jimins, ranging at 11 feet long. Jeongguk was quite proud of the length of his tail, as it attracts more mates and because of the colouring, blends perfectly with the waves of the ocean. Jeongguk waved his tail in the deep pool of the cave and nodded to Jimin before sinking under the water and swimming out into the open ocean. 

Jimin followed right behind in Jeongguk a current as to swim easier in the ocean. They both dived and began their swim towards the kingdom, Jimin looked around and slowly rubbed against Jeongguk to alert him of something. Jeongguk turned back and then looked to where Jimin was looking, there were other merfolk in the distance, not of their genetic compound, and by the scent trails seemingly from the deep blue.

Jeongguk furrowed his brows and tugged Jimin along faster until they reached the kingdom, “what are they doing here” Jimin murmured under his breath as he stuck close to Jeongguk. The Blue colony of Merfolk was known to be the calmest colony, but it still isn’t an excuse to come into another territory. The Blue colony is a pure colony with very traditional values, their bloodline pure to the bone of just Blue colony members.

Jimin presses himself against Jeongguk, he knew the Blue colony wouldn’t like him very much as he had been bullied in the past for being a leech to the Saltwater colony. Of course, Jeongguk knew this wasn’t true, Jimin was that of the purest souls he knew. He quickly hid Jimin away in a secret part of the castle,

“Father!” Jeongguk exclaimed, and the door to his father's chamber opened abruptly as if he had been expecting him. “Young man-“ Namjoon began before he was cut off by Jeongguk, “no- not right now we don’t have time, the Blue colony is here,” he said knowing he was on thin fishers line.

“Who?” Namjoon said unbelievingly and rushed to the front doors of the palace, and sure as winter the towering shadows of the Blue colony merfolk cast down on the reef below. Jeongguk was rather large for his genetic compound and ancestry, as his father had found and had fallen in love with a different species of merfolk. His tail, rather large was no comparison to the large Blue colony merfolk, he had only been told stories past down from generations of the great beauty and kindness shown by this colony, and their great mass they brought with them.

Both Jeongguk and Namjoon were shocked at the sudden and unexpected arrival of the Blue colony, they looked at each other before swimming up to great the giants. The reef too small to host the great colony, especially such masses. But, living in the deep blue is no kind experience, the colony tend to never rest and need few meals a year to survive.

“Hello-“ Namjoon spoke, his words about to fall out of his mouth as he lay eyes upon the large and stunning merfolk. “How can I help you today?” He gathered himself and smiled kindly. The Blue colony fell silent and it was as if the ruler of the colony needed to process the words of the kind emperor of the salt water kingdom before speaking.

Jeongguk took this chance to tune out and glance at the length and true beauty of the folk, his own tail looking as if he was a minnow next to a barracuda. He blinked and tried to measure it, he assumed it was a least 13 feet long, and seemed that some of the others could be longer. The folk were no normal folk however, their fins and tail were unlike the common mermaid scales. They were smooth, like whale skin, diverse in colours and patterns of blacks and whites, some were a pale blue, others were a soft brown. He blinked before noticing the attention had been passed to him, Namjoon nudged the boy and smiled.

“I'm Jeon Jeongguk, from the SaltWater colony, and I'm 20 years old,” he said, this is how he’d been taught to introduce himself, his father smiled while the other looked on in confusion. “Relax son” he spoke softly and smiled, Namjoon looked confused and rather rattled at the compliment and Jeongguk seemed to be able to settle more.

“Why have you come” Namjoon had finally asked after talking about old times, “it’s not usual to meet another merfolk colony unless it’s the great moon meeting” in which a meeting will only take place under a blue moon, and merfolk will find life partners or lifelong friends, even starting their own colony within this week-long period.

The male spoke softly and calmly, his voice clear and not at all deep or raspy. Jeongguk recalls this man as one of his father's old friends, Baekhyun, he believes. The male is younger and new to the colony as the last ruler had passed away in a fatal boat crash, but it is to be expected in the open seas and is nothing new to this seasoned colony.

Baekhyun spoke up, “there have been a numerous amount of boat activity in the area” he began, clearing his throat before continuing, “many have been crashing, spilling various supplies and sailors” he was careful of his words as he seemed to know Namjoon was not a fan of boats or otherworlders. Jeongguk had never heard of the word sailor and pondered on the thought of if that’s what the otherworlders he found were, sailors. He nodded to himself and was proud about learning this new word, planning to use it often.

Namjoon nodded and sent Jeongguk away, there was ‘nothing he needed to know’ as his father said, and Jeongguk couldn’t argue. He swam down back into the depths of his kingdom, finding Jimin lazing around in one of the distant and empty chambers, many sea life had taken over the room. “Seems like it’s time for some cleaning” Jimin spoke with a sense of humor tickling his words, Jeongguk scoffed as he knew his father wasn’t one for a tidy kingdom.

“Let’s do something while they’re around,” Jimin said and Jeongguk perked up, they both snuck out the back corridor and into the open kelp forest. They swam slower and calmer here as to begin relaxing, “we should probably help those otherworlders” Jimin spoke as they brush against the slimy seaweed and went further into the forest before reaching a small clearing.

Jeongguk nodded and dove deeper into the small clearing. The small clearing was caused by a shipwreck a while ago, creating the perfect spot for the two mermen. As children, they would always play pretend as the otherworlders that once sailed the small boat, but as young adults, it was the perfect spot to talk amongst themselves in private.

“I hear that the great moon meeting is creeping up,” Jimin said softly, knowing how Jeongguk hated those events. How many merfolk flocked to the young mermans' side, pestering him about starting a colony and even mating. Jeongguk furrowed his brows as he sunk into a small pile of seaweed, he sighed heavily and ran his hands through his hair, “god… no” he groaned and rolled around in the seaweed bed.

Jimin chuckled to himself and sank beside him, slowly tugging away the slippery green seaweed pieces as to make sure his friend wouldn’t get stressed from being tangled up. “Is it really that bad there?” Jimin hummed and curled around a nearby rock, “It would be my first time this year” he added on and stared up towards the towering seaweed trees, flowing in the calm current of the ocean. The light softly flickering around and bouncing around like a playful dolphin.

He stayed silent at first and sneered at the old thoughts of this meeting, “It’s not the best event for me” he said and looked to Jimin, “maybe you’ll find your old colony” he gave a soft smile to his elder and pat his shoulder. “You can have hope for that” Jeongguk said and sighed, looking to the shipwreck, as he saw a soft shine flickering from inside.

His friend nodded and sighed, “I don’t know what I’d do even if I were to meet them” Jimin said and pouted. “I don’t even remember them,” he said and traced scales on his tail, “Do you think they’d even accept me?” his voice barely above a whisper as if he was directing it at the ocean itself and not to his closest friend. Jeongguk, who was half listening, and nodding along finally got the urge to swim and inspect the shiny object. He lifted off the ocean floor, and with a powerful stroke of his tail, made his way over to the small object, which was lodged in what seemed to be a wooden drawer. He yanked it out and raised his brow, his hand slunk around the thin silver piece as he brought it up to his eyes. It had three silver prongs and a long silver bit attached to them.

“Why did we never inspect the shipwreck?” he muttered and turned to Jimin who seemed to be lost in his own world, fiddling with strands of seaweed and small sea crabs and various other small sea life. Jeongguk shrugged it off and disappeared inside the large craft, it was littered with bones of otherworlders and many other shiny objects and jewels. ‘The otherworlders have a weird obsession with shiny things’ he thought and ran a finger along a gold plated necklace, a small flash of the honey-haired otherworlder flashed through his mind and he flushed a light red. ‘It would look beautiful wouldn’t it?” his mind and heart raced in time with each other. He heard a small swish of water and hid the necklace behind his back as he was met with Jimin's questioning look.

“I said the tides are going out,” he said and tilted his head, “why do you look so guilty?” he said and swam right up to Jeongguks face and narrowed his eyes, “what are you hiding from me, you little fiend?” Jimin stuck his tongue out and softly shoved the younger male and slid out the small jagged hole in the shipwreck with ease. Jeongguk gaped before dashing out after him, hitting his tail on some of the wooden parts that stuck out, “motherfucker! I’LL GET YOU JIMIN!” Jeongguk screamed as his find got tangled easily on the jagged parts.

He could hear Jimin giggling from over a mile away, and this was no different. Jeongguk may be bigger and stronger, but Jimin was smaller and faster, making him almost impossible to reach from just pure speed alone. 

Jimin twisted too fast around the small areas as the tide recedes, making Jeongguk ram himself into the stones, unable to stop in time. “Ah! You little-!” Jeongguk hissed in pain when he was once again spun into another rock.AS Jeongguk tired out and laid down on a rock, Jimin swam up to him and stuck out his tongue “At my age, do you know how I’m statistically most likely to die?” he said and leaned on his hand as he rested close to Jeongguk, “At the hands of your brother?” Jeongguk hissed and reached out for him.

“No,an accident” Jimin said, moving back while glaring at the younger, “That’s how I’m going to make it look” Jeongguk murmured and before Jimin could react, he launched forward and tackled his friend, their tails splashing and causing a great amount of ruckus in the small tide pool that had formed. “Ok, Ok!” Jimin laughed as the youngers fingers raked across his most ticklish parts, “enough!, I’m out!” he said and wiggled away, situating himself on a flattened rock just out of the tide pool.

Jeongguk huffed and crossed his arms, raising just his head from the water to look at the male before hoisting himself up on the opposite side and groaning as he massaged the scraped parts of his tail and the reachable parts on his torso. 

“I was thinking about earlier today” Jimin began, “We had… legs” he said and stroked down his tail, “do you think father knows? Or even any other merfolk?” he said and splashed the end of his tail in the water. Jeongguk shrugged and smoothed his hand across the gold plated necklace he had wrapped around his wrist, “I’m sure some may know” he paused briefly and looked upon the shining metal, “but I’m sure if many knew they would leave this polluted world behind in search of something more” he commented after thinking thoughtfully.

“Wow kid, that’s probably one of the smartest things you’ve ever said” Jimin poked at the others very little patience and stuck out his tongue, “Oh shut up,” Jeongguk said and snorted. “And why haven’t you found a mate yet?” Jimin prodded the younger males tail with his own, Jeongguk looked up and straightened his posture, “well, I don’t have a mate for various reasons. I can go through them if you’d like. First, there’s the- Jimin? Are you listening?” Jeongguk realized the other male playing with another small crab.

“Yeah,” Jimin said and glanced back to Jeongguk while snorting softly, Jeongguk furrowed his brows and splashed his elder. “Oh yeah, what did I say?” he huffed, “I’m ggukie and I’m too good for any merfolk even if I attract all of them even some of different colonies and genders,” he said in a mockingly high pitched voice. Jeongguk glared at his elder and splashed him so hard he was able to knock him from where he was situated, “that’s not quite it I’m afraid” he simply said and stuck out his own tongue to Jimin.

Jimin, who has regained his place with a huff and puff tried with great difficulty to splash Jeongguk with the same force that he already had done, “you son of Poseidon-” Jimin muttered under his breath as he watched the tides slowly pooling back into the small area. “I’ll take that as a compliment” Jeongguk puffed out his chest with a big smile. “I must’ve said it wrong then, you look like a puffer fish” he snorted as Jeongguk let out a disgruntled mermaid sound.

“We should head back now, and find some food for those otherworlders,” Jimin said before Jeongguk could say or do anything else, he slipped from the rock and slid out amongst the slowly rising tides before fully submerging himself, and with a splash of his tail he was gone. 

Jeongguk sat there for a moment, to let the tides grow slowly and allow him to get out easier. That’s the excuse he’d tell Jimin, but in reality, he looked across towards the small island that lay just ahead, the island that the otherworlders were taking refuge on. He sighed heavily and looked down to the gold necklace, would this mean anything? Would the honey-haired male hate it? Maybe he was stupid for taking such a thing. He took it off his wrist and wrapped it around a small rock, maybe it would eventually find its way somewhere nicer.

Jeongguk pouted to himself as he slid over the rocks before reaching the small cliff which dipped off into the kelp forest. He swam through the seaweed as to add the moisture back into his scales, he found Jimin just outside the forest waiting for him. “What took you so long? I wouldn't think that it would be so hard to fight off those little crabs” Jimin said and pointed to a small friend Jeongguk had brought along with him, attached to the end of his tail. “U-Uh no, just too big- had to wait for tide,” he said sporadically and frantically, he blinked and then swatted the small crab away. He swam slightly ahead of Jimin and gave an awkward smile “well we’d better be off if we want to be able to find anything for them“, to which Jimin gave him a weird look while raising his brow.

Just as Jimin were to mention something about his awkward and strange behavior, the younger merfolk burst off with a single movement of his tail. Jimin promised himself that he’d ask about it later before also swimming off in the same direction as the young prince.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uwu if I’m able to keep updating like this hopefully the story will be nice a full of life. I tired a little more in this chapter ;; i hope the dialogue is ok, I was kinda self conscious about it being too boring! Enjoy!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy this little fanfiction! I'll try to update :/ but I'm really bad at that! I actually enjoy the plot a lot and hope I can do more!! I actually have character designs for the mermaid characters (for the most part) for their tails/body. leave criticism or friendly comments below!! love you!


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